Loan Starting Balance

Also, a general explanation of how to handle
Starting Balance in loan accounts

Diagnosis

User reports that the loan balance is wrong (way too
big). They see this problem either in Balance Sheet, in account
running total, or in the Reconcile command.

Nearly always, this problem is caused by an incorrect
value in the Starting Balance field. This amount should be the
amount owed when they started using Goldenseal
accounting software,
not the total line of credit available.

Best way to check this is to look at the Starting
Balance amount in the Credit Card or Loan account. If it's
exactly the same as the total line of credit, then it's probably
wrong.

Solution

Make sure the starting balance is the AMOUNT OWED
when they start using Goldenseal accounting
software. It will probably be a negative number (money owed
to the bank) rather than a positive number (money that the
bank owes you).

Put the line of credit amount into
the Minimum Balance field. For a loan or credit
card, it will be a negative number.